General Statement of Job

The Mental Health Counselor provides one-on-one counseling to students with psychological, emotional, behavioral, social, career, and other mental health challenges. The Mental Health Counselor employs appropriate psychotherapy and therapeutic interventions within the guidelines of state mental health board requirements, professional ethics, departmental, and institutional policies, and procedures. The counselor promotes students’ overall well-being, success, and institutional retention.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

Essential Duties:

Commits to the personal growth and success of MSSU students by fostering their intellectual, personal, and psychological well-being.

Commits to student success and retention while promoting the Mission of Missouri Southern State University (MSSU)

Demonstrates knowledge of developmental characteristics of college students and the unique challenges confronting individuals in this stage of life.

Provides short-term individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, clinical assessments, consultation, outreach, training, and liaison/consultation relationships.

Responds effectively to clients with varied backgrounds and identities, applying cultural competence and tailoring clinical approaches to individual needs.

Skillfully assesses and provides intervention on a wide range of clinical issues and complex diagnostic concerns. For example, working with students with one or multiple areas of concerns such as depression, anxiety, acute stress, PTSD, crisis, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, grief, relationship difficulties, career decisions, difficulties with adjusting to new environments, body image issues, varied identities and lived experiences, and other mental health challenges.

Serves as student advocate to coordinate required services in addressing and/or resolving crisis situations by appropriately referring student to on-campus or off-campus services as needed.

Assists Director of Counseling Services with wellness and outreach programming, and psychosocial presentations to students and staff on issues specific to college students’ mental well-being.

Maintains appropriate documentation of all client contacts in accordance with professional standards of care and Counseling Services policies and practices.

Performs their duties with professionalism and according to the ethical and legal standards which govern their practice and institutional policies.

Counselors may be requested to be involved in training and supervision activities.

Counselors provide consultation services to the university community and maintain appropriate documentation of consultative activities.

Demonstrates best practices in “customer service” for their areas to address the needs of various constituencies who utilize their programs and services.

Represents Counseling Services on departmental and other university-wide committees as requested by the Dean of Students.

Serve as proxy for Director of Counseling Services on Behavior Intervention Team (BIT) as needed.

Assists Director of Counseling Services with Counseling Services administrative duties.

Performs other duties as required or assigned.

Education, Experience, and Licenses

Minimum Qualifications

Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in Counseling, Social Work, Psychology, Counselor Education, or closely related fields.

Active full license as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), or other related mental health licensed therapists, licensed in the state of Missouri. Provisionally Licensed Professional Counselors (PLPC), and Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) will be considered. If hired, full licensure will be required within two years of hiring. Valid documentation is required at time of hire and on-going.

Maintains an active professional license in good standing, including completion of all required continuing education, and ensures ongoing coverage through current professional malpractice insurance. Valid documentation will be required.

Experience with current edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders.

Valid Driver’s License and ability to meet the University’s insurance requirements for driving university vehicle or driving for university sponsored trips.

Preferred Qualification

At least one year of counseling experience in a college or university counseling center or comparable mental health setting.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Must be able to serve the mental health needs of students with minimal supervision and display advanced clinical judgment.

• Ability to produce timely, accurate, and professionally written progress notes that consistently meet Counseling Services documentation deadlines, align with clinical best practices, and comply with all regulatory and accreditation standards.

• Computer proficiency necessary to fulfill this position includes working knowledge of Electronic Medical Records, such as Titanium, email communication, web pages, PowerPoint and/other presentation mediums, web-based surveys, etc.

• Must have strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.

• Ability to present before groups of people.

• Must have strong organizational skills.

• Must be energetic, highly motivated, and team/collaborative oriented.

• Must be flexible to adapt to changing demands of the day.

• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and professional journals, and legal documents.

• Ability to consult with, and respond to common inquiries from all university populations, such as, faculty, staff, administration, parents, students, and the general population.

• Ability to participate in assessments by defining problems or goals, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions, write reports, and present findings.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, feel or use a computer keyboard and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to sit. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, or crouch. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

NOTICE: The above job profile does not include all essential and nonessential duties of this job. All employees with disabilities are encouraged to contact Human Resources to review and discuss the essential and nonessential functions of the job. An employee with a disability can evaluate the job in greater detail to determine if she/he can safely perform the essential function of this job with or without reasonable accommodation. MSSU is EOE employer and utilizes E-Verify employment verification.